Genealogy Chat

Hi All Am about to order my first certs!! Have been very lucky so far as have some originals and photocopies from other family members....but now need to take the plunge!!!! What are the pros and cons from ordering from either the GRO or local record offices...the ones I would be dealing with are Hawarden and Holywell (North Wales) Liverpool, Durham and York......anyone had experience of any of these???? All advice most gratefully recieved!!! Sarah x

In my experience the local offices are quicker. I use one in Staffordshire and certs usually arrive in 3-4 days compared with 2-3 weeks from the GRO. Sam

People have commented on various ROs so you may find a thread. Manchester sent me a certificate in a week. Salford the next day, Bury 3 days. Good Luck Elaine

Certainly Buckinghamshire, Suffolk and Hampshire's turnaround is usually within two / three days. Joy

I thought the GRO was getting back to a quick service but I have been waiting over 17 days now for a cert, so if you can use the local office, do so. The only thing is and I dont know if this is usual, when I get certs from local offices they have been copied out by hand - with the GRO you get the actual image of the original.

I've used Durham and Brighton, normally return of post, the gro anything up to 3 weeks, sandra

My certificate from Manchester was a photocopy but the others have been copied by hand. Yes nice to have it in the 'original'. Elaine

Hi Sarah Don't use Liverpool i waited 12 weeks for my certs to arrive and i know im not the only one who waited this long. Should you you never need to order from Salford, they were great, they arrived by return post. Julie

From the GRO you will receive a photocopy of the original copy. The local RO is usually a present day copy. The only place you will get a copy of your ancestors' signatures is in the Parish Register/Civil Register. Even your own marriage cert. is a copy: it does not have your signature on it.

Copied from an earlier thread With church weddings two registers were signed, one at register offices. Every three months the vicar/local registrar copied these and sent them to the District Superintendent. It is these copies that were sent to GRO. When the church registers became full one was sent to the District Superintendent and the other kept by the church (usually then to CROs), so there should be two originals from churches (with signatures etc) One with the church and one with the district registrar . The local registrar also sent his completed book to th DS when full. The GRO certs are thus transcriptions and this is where the errors arose. (until photocopying) Not all District Offices give out copies of the originals even though they hold them. So if you can view them at CRO that is your best bet. You will also find ones missing from GRO. Believing GRO to be complete and accurate is one of the biggest mistakes people make. It has been estimated that there are 50,000 marriages missing from GRO ! If you want to read the original ACT OF 1836 which said how this works go here http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb(.)com/%7Eframland/acts/1836Act.htm (heavy reading) Thnks to Guy Etchells GRO can't copy originals because they don't hold them! So some will be transcriptions, some copies of copies of originals. District Registrars hold all originals but some only give out transcriptions. Hope that's not too confusing but that's how it is! Bob

I've used Durham loads of times and prefer them over the GRO, but they don't have all the records on line yet. They have all marriages, most births, but deaths only after 1981. Their turnaround is fantastic, 5 days from applying to receiving, which is excellent considering I'm in America and they have to post it airmail to me. I've also emailed them about general queries and they reply the same day. The GRO is better than it was, a little quicker, I get things from them that I can't get from Durham. But as others have said, the local RO's hand write a new copy of the cert, where as the GRO photocopy the original one. The local RO is obviously very easy to read, but there is something nice about seeing the original and trying to decipher the handwriting too! The only other thing to bear in mind with the local offices, is that sometimes the original county boundaries have changed. I know for a fact that Durham works with modern boundaries; ie a place that a 100 years ago came under Durham, now comes under Tyne and Wear, and you can't obtain the cert from Durham RO. Brenda